Is life just one big experiment?
Some of us here at VULGO have been dabbling in the Scientific world of late. So last week, at Bewley’s Cafe Theatre we were intrigued to see Quantum Theory, Higgs Particle, CERN, and Life Choices all being thrown into scientist-turned-actor Niamh Shaw’s cosmic theatrical mixer in “That’s About the Size of It”, a “play in a bag” production at Bewley’s Cafe Theatre.
She told us all about Atoms, 2D, 3D (we are ALL 3-dimensional, you know, and don’t let anyone tell you any different), the fourth dimension, and – wait for it – considered her life choices so far as they might appear from the TENTH dimension. From that imagined realm, we could collectively consider Niamh’s other lives, the ones she didn’t pursue, playing out in a parallel universe on film on a semi-circular screen behind her. This was impressive Scientist Niamh, in a white coat, in a lab, in London working on the underground in her posh and impressive Engineer’s office (she did this in the 90′s); Astronaut Niamh (more aspirational); Ballerina Niamh (“); Married Niamh (she was married in the 90′s), and so on, as if we could just peek into these parallel lives through a slit in time.
This lunchtime show which explores the latest theories of the Universe within the context of her own life experiences is the result of Niamh interviewing scientists and engineers at CERN, Switzerland, and witnessing live research coming in from the LHC. Incorporating the theories of String Theory, Parallel Universes, & the Higgs particle, she places us, the audience in the vortex of a very human context, and poses the bigger questions we ask ourselves about our existence, our life’s work and the effect of choice, chance and coincidence on our life journey.
Into experimentation? Catch “That’s about the size of it” at Bewley’s Cafe Theatre in #DFF
19/09/2011By Deirdre Mulrooneyhttps://web.archive.org/web/20111003110826if_/http://platform.twitter.com/widgets/tweet_button.html#_=1317640135065&count=horizontal&counturl=http%3A%2F%2Fvulgo.ie%2Flikes%2Finto-experimentation-catch-thats-about-the-size-of-it-at-bewleys-cafe-theatre-in-dff%2F&id=twitter_tweet_button_0&lang=en&original_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fvulgo.ie%2Flikes%2Finto-experimentation-catch-thats-about-the-size-of-it-at-bewleys-cafe-theatre-in-dff%2F&text=Into%20experimentation%3F%20Catch%20%26quot%3BThat%26%23039%3Bs%20about%20the%20size%20of%20it%26quot%3B%20at%20Bewley%26%23039%3Bs%20Cafe%20Theatre%20in%20%23DFF&url=http%3A%2F%2Fvulgo.ie%2F%3Fp%3D2930&via=VULGO_IE
Is life just one big experiment?
Some of us here at VULGO have been dabbling in the Scientific world of late. So last week, at Bewley’s Cafe Theatre we were intrigued to see Quantum Theory, Higgs Particle, CERN, and Life Choices all being thrown into scientist-turned-actor Niamh Shaw’s cosmic theatrical mixer in “That’s About the Size of It”, a “play in a bag” production at Bewley’s Cafe Theatre.
She told us all about Atoms, 2D, 3D (we are ALL 3-dimensional, you know, and don’t let anyone tell you any different), the fourth dimension, and – wait for it – considered her life choices so far as they might appear from the TENTH dimension. From that imagined realm, we could collectively consider Niamh’s other lives, the ones she didn’t pursue, playing out in a parallel universe on film on a semi-circular screen behind her. This was impressive Scientist Niamh, in a white coat, in a lab, in London working on the underground in her posh and impressive Engineer’s office (she did this in the 90′s); Astronaut Niamh (more aspirational); Ballerina Niamh (“); Married Niamh (she was married in the 90′s), and so on, as if we could just peek into these parallel lives through a slit in time.
This lunchtime show which explores the latest theories of the Universe within the context of her own life experiences is the result of Niamh interviewing scientists and engineers at CERN, Switzerland, and witnessing live research coming in from the LHC. Incorporating the theories of String Theory, Parallel Universes, & the Higgs particle, she places us, the audience in the vortex of a very human context, and poses the bigger questions we ask ourselves about our existence, our life’s work and the effect of choice, chance and coincidence on our life journey.
Niamh, a brainy former full-time academic scientist, admits that the show emerged from her 24-year struggle to figure out her place in the world. ‘I spent years studying in school & college, gaining 2 degrees in engineering & a Ph.D in science, all the while considering another life as an artist. I don’t want to waste time doing something I’m not passionate about. I admire the scientists at CERN for their passion & relentless quest for answers to the bigger questions, unlocking the secrets of the Universe. They are the explorers of the new frontier and this really resonated with me. And so I decided to teach myself quantum mechanics, visit CERN and make a response to it as both artist and scientist.’